In the past ten to twenty years, employment of people restricted to wheelchairs and the like has increased. One problem in the work place which has become apparent is the seemingly simple task of working at a desk or workstation while using a wheelchair. The wheelchair user becomes fatigued from the constant moving of the wheelchair in order to access different parts of the desk or workstation. The constant moving of the wheelchair by the user at a workstation is equated to the swivel action of an office chair, which most people take for granted. The fatigued of the user is from the fact that the user must rotate both large wheels of a standard wheelchair in opposite directions in order to rotate the wheelchair about a fixed point at the desk or workstation. The user becomes fatigued because the user is using both arms all day just to swivel about the desk or workstation. Currently, there is nothing on market to provide a wheelchair user with the ability to swivel about a workstation. What is needed is something quiet, light weight, easy to access and easy to operate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wheelchair user with an apparatus that allows the user to swivel about a workstation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus for a wheelchair user that is quiet, light weight, easy to access and easy to operate.
The present invention is a wheelchair swivel platform that allows a standard, unmodified wheelchair or other non-swiveling chair and an occupant to swivel about an area of a workstation, in much the same way as a modem swivel office chair. The wheelchair swivel platform includes a top plate and a bottom plate. The bottom plate serves as a base for the platform which lies on the floor to support the top plate. The top plate swivels about the bottom plate while supporting the wheelchair. A rotation locking device prevents rotation of the platform during positioning of the wheelchair on and off the platform. Two version are disclosed. The main differences in the two versions being the interaction between the top and bottom plates. The first version includes the bottom plate, a round hub, top and bottom tapered roller bearings, the top plate, locking cap, the rotation locking device and a main nut and main bolt. The second version includes the bottom plate, square hub, plastic balls, ball bearing turntable, top plate, locking assembly, rotation locking device, main bolt and top and bottom grooves for the plastic balls.